February 12, 2018

One-Quarter of Consumers Put Privacy First

Any headline about people wanting more government regulation has a certain man-bites-dog appeal. Market Strategies International recognized this when they headlined their report on Internet of Things with news that experienced IoT users want more government regulation than inexperienced users. Some of the mystery dissipates when you find the question was about regulating employers’ use IoT in the workplace. Experienced users are actually less concerned about privacy and security than inexperienced users and more concerned with practical issues like power outages, ease of use, and demands on their time. Experienced users saw many more applications for IoT, so the report’s primary conclusion is better education about IoT will lead to faster growth.

I’ll do a little cherry-picking of my own to note that an Adobe survey found 26% of consumers listed too-creepy personalization as the biggest annoyance with brand content and 28% said they’re not comfortable sharing any information with brands. So there’s certainly a privacy-sensitive segment of consumers out there. But they’re a distinct minority: 67% said it was important for messages to adjust to current location and 44% wanted content personalized to them as an individual. In any case, personalization is a side issue for most people: the most wanted features were content that displays well on their current device (75%) and is timely and relevant (60%). Lots more here on content preferences, consumption, and sharing.

Even the minority of people who care about privacy are usually willing to sell access to their data. Blockchain could facilitate this with low-overhead payments and automated execution. Malta-headquartered Thrive is working along those lines on a decentralized ad marketplace with payments made through private tokens. Pesky government regulators at the SEC won’t let U.S. citizens participate. You may recall we’ve covered somewhat similar offerings from Dabbl and IOTA

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